


To Be Free

by VeloxVoid



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Crest of the Beast, Garreg Mach, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Running Away, Self-Discovery, Self-Doubt, Self-Reflection, Soul-Searching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25218760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeloxVoid/pseuds/VeloxVoid
Summary: Sometimes, facing your fears is too much. Sometimes, you simply need to run. Luckily for Marianne, she and Dorte find the perfect place, with the perfect view to reflect, and search your soul.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	To Be Free

**Author's Note:**

> This was my piece for the zine "Survivor of the Curse"! I like writing environments, what can I say...
> 
> This Marianne-centric zine is run by @InvincibleZine on Twitter! You can find it here for free: https://twitter.com/InvincibleZine/status/1281744272480403458?s=20

Dorte was a good horse. 

Marianne grasped onto his mane as the wind whipped wildly through her hair, feeling more alive than she'd felt in weeks. 

Perhaps it wasn’t allowed, but Marianne cared not. At the crack of dawn, she had slipped through the monastery gates and taken off at a gallop on Dorte's back. She had no saddle, nor stirrups - no reigns or equipment of any sort. Out here, on the most crisp of mornings, with the Wyvern Moon still hanging low in the sky above them as she rode unbridled, Marianne felt almost free.

_Almost._

Sometimes she wondered if she would ever be free of her past, or of the blight that resided within her blood. Each time she felt happiness - felt a spark light in her chest as she let a rare smile cradle her lips - she would be reminded. _The Beast._ Did she really deserve happiness, if her mere presence alone could bring such misfortune to others? Was she _allowed_ to be free, if she was descended from such barbarism?

Marianne von Edmund tried to shake those thoughts away, focussing her eyes upon the horizon. She had ridden out on Dorte for a reason: to free herself from her curse - to forget.

Garreg Mach’s surroundings were beautiful. Lush, green hills rolled into one another with such enviable laziness, while steep valleys at either side bloomed with wildflowers. Far off in the distance, the snow-tipped crests of the Oghma Mountains shone amber in the daybreak, the white reflecting the sunrise so intensely it almost hurt to look at.

She wanted to reach those mountains; she wanted to take Dorte to their bases to stare up at the towering rocks far above - to watch small families of birds circle the crags on broad wings, gliding delicately on the warm currents of the Wyvern Moon’s breeze that grew colder by the day.

Yet, she knew she couldn’t; she had to train today. The Golden Deer were to set out for the Battle of the Eagle and Lion in only a few weeks. They would be judged on their performance, and Claude’s pure, unadulterated excitement for it had inspired even Marianne to try her hardest. But that meant training, and intense classes, and being back at the monastery in the early morning to focus on her healing capabilities for hours on end.

Marianne sat back on Dorte, lightly signalling for the gentle beast to slow. He did so at once, his gallop becoming a canter, and then a mere walk. His hooves made much softer sounds against the earth below, the grass absorbing his footsteps until only the wind rustling through it could be heard. Marianne’s hair lay loose across her shoulders, warming the back of her neck in an almost unfamiliar way; it was not often she freed her hair from its intricate braids, but this was the one morning she’d found she could not make the effort to tie it back. No, she’d wanted to be _free_ \- to make away into the wilderness alone, just her and Dorte, and be unburdened by anything.

At last, she was at her destination. Coming to a halt, Marianne slid one leg over Dorte’s back to join the other, and felt herself fall the short distance to the ground below. She kept a hand upon her horse’s soft, chestnut fur, stroking his neck lightly.

“Thank you, Dorte…” she whispered. And the animal understood, looking at her through wide brown eyes before lowering his head to nibble at the grass beneath them.

A hilltop. Whilst riding, coursing through the fields for ceaseless minutes, it had felt as though Marianne and Dorte were in the middle of nowhere, far away from any civilisations, truly alone. In reality, they hadn’t strayed far from Garreg Mach at all. The great monastery stood in the distance, as sturdy and unyielding as the Oghma Mountains behind her; its light brown bricks glowed almost golden in the sunlight, its windows like white beacons burning fiercely with the reflection of the dawn.

It was so beautiful - uncannily so, she supposed: how could a structure built by humans rival the beauty of anything forged by nature - by Sothis herself? Marianne knew not, but found that it could, at least in her eyes. Its walls were smooth and pleasing, like the delicate curves of lush fruit, the architecture truly astounding. Towers loomed above everything beneath them with their fascinating spires, straight and sleek and inspiring. The lower walls bore crenellations so symmetrical one had to wonder how the builders could have constructed them so perfectly. It sat steadfast against the sky, with the morning’s blue behind it contrasting so fiercely against its brown bricks, looking truly stalwart - trustworthy.

The nature that sat all around them - gorgeous and delicate wildflowers, lush emerald-adorned hills, and sentinel trees guarding them - was captivating. Yet, even so, Marianne simply could not ignore that Garreg Mach was too.

She sighed. Yes, the monastery was beautiful from afar, but a slow, dull sensation of dread crept into her chest as she imagined being back within its walls.

Unfortunately, she needed to be. And, judging by the sun, she needed to be soon. She hopped back up onto Dorte, and set her equestrian friend off at a walk, back towards Garreg Mach.

Of course, Marianne could never be free for long.


End file.
